[[folder:R]]* RabbleRouser: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] during a major HeatWave. The [[{{Jerkass}} Jolly Ollie Man]] tries to charge the kids outrageous prices for ice cream, and Arnold convinces the crowd of kids to make a bunch of noise and give him no peace until he relents and sells ice cream at a reasonable price. Then Helga climbs on top of the truck and starts taking it even further, urging them to flip the ice cream truck over. Arnold then has to turn around and try to calm them down.* RaisedByGrandparents: Arnold.* [[RashomonStyle Rashomon Episode]]: The "False Alarm" episode.* RagtagBunchofMisfits: The Sunset Arms boarders.* RawEggsMakeYouStronger:** Harold tried drinking raw eggs while training for an arm-wrestling match, but they made him want to throw up.** Subverted in another episode when Grandpa is trying to get in shape. He is shown cracking raw eggs into a glass...and then pours them from the glass into a frying pan to cook them.* RecycledPremise: A fair amount of the later episodes are retreads down the paths of older ones - for example "Helga's Parrot" is a mix of "Helga's Locket" and "Helga Blabs It All," all of which are revisitations of the early episode "Little Pink Book." In an example of TropesAreNotBad, most of these recycled plots allowed the writers to explore the storylines in unique and still entertaining ways.** The most prominent example, however, is "Love and Cheese," which ''is'' "Operation Ruthless," just with Lila replacing Ruth while showing off the deeper development the characters had been given in the years between the episodes. Fully cognizant of this, the episode is full of references to ''Ruthless'' - several lines from the first episode are repeated and/or referenced, Ruth herself cameos on several occasions in the background (despite not appearing at all in the show for quite a while), and Phoebe and Gerald are shown walking past scenes together - a reference to [[BetaCouple how they hooked up in the background during the plot of]] ''Ruthless.''** A more subtle example is "Arnold Visits Arnie." "Weird Cousin" involves Arnold's cousin Arnie visiting the boarding house and the girl Arnold loves falls in love with Arnie. In "Arnold Visits Arnie" Arnold visits Arnie out in the country and Arnie's girlfriend falls in love with Arnold. It doesn't stick out as much as other examples because there's no subplot where the girl who likes Arnie tries to make the other girl jealous and "Weird Cousin" didn't have Dopplegangers, Arnie aside.* RedheadInGreen: Lila is this.* RejectionAffection: While Helga is busy being a StalkerWithACrush to Arnold, Brainy is doing the same to Helga, but a lot more openly. No matter how many times she hits him, he persists. ** Another example is Lulu in "Arnold Visits Arnie", the equivalent of Lila in Arnold's subconscious. He constantly rejects her affections since she's already with Arnie, yet she keeps harassing him in ways that make him feel uncomfortable.* TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation* RichBitch: Rhonda has a tendency to be this, although it's not as bad as other examples on that page.* RomanticFalseLead: Ruth and Lila.* RousseauWasRight: The series generally tends to support this.* RunningGag: While Helga fawns over Arnold and recites her poetry about him, Brainy will interrupt her with his heavy breathing, resulting in Helga hitting him with an OffhandBackhand. Also, Brainy appears in some of the...weirdest locations. They even lampshade this, and he doesn't even know what he was doing there with them in the first place.---> '''Helga:''' Look, Brainy, this is just ''weird.'' How is it that you're standing behind me again? How'd you get in this little arch? Were you waiting for me to come to this alley? ''What's your deal?''** Every time Arnold hits a baseball, someone is going to get hit by it. There was even an entire episode dealing with the idea.** Whenever someone belts out a BigNo or SayMyName, it's loud enough to set off car alarms.** Helga's parents can never remember her age usually guessing six, seven, or eight and then being surprised when she says she's nine.[[/folder]]

[[folder:S]]* SadClown:---> '''Harold:''' Look at me Arnold, LOOK AT ME! I'm a... I'm... BIG UGLY CLOWNO, A BIG SAD UGLY CLOWNOOOOOOOO!** LeitMotif* ScantronPicture: In "Apptitude Test," Harold fills in the bubbles to resemble a large letter 'H'.* SchoolPlay: Episode of the same title.* ScrewPolitenessImASenior: Grandpa Phil and Grandma Gertie...Not to Arnold, though.* TheScrooge: The Jolly-Olly Man. He usually acts like a general JerkAss to kid customers and sometimes [[KicktheDog drives the truck away just after stopping for waving kids]]. Soon revealed to be a combination of a WellDoneSonGuy and CallingTheOldManOut situation with him and his boss/father, since he can't hold any other jobs.* SecondPersonAttack: The show seemed quite fond of this, complete with accompanying StockFootage animation of cartoonish stars flying.* SecretSanta: In the ChristmasSpecial.* SeriousBusiness:** '''HEY EVERYONE, STOOP KID'S GONNA LEAVE HIS STOOP!!!''' Cue the front-line news page. ** A news crew and at least a quarter of the city also showed up for Arnold's punishment in "Arnold Betrays Iggy".** The people who play the card game in "Gerald's Game" get pretty into it, with the winners becoming kings and losers getting locked up or becoming slaves.** Let's not forget Curly in "Curly Snaps" who was obsessed over being "ball monitor" (the kid whose job is to hand out and collect all the kickballs before and after recces) for a week. While every other kid thought it was a mediocre or boring chore, Curly thought it was an admirable and highly respected position. He ends up going crazy and locking himself in the principal's office in protest just because Mr. Simmons accidentally skipped his turn. * SettleForSibling: The Ghost Bride's ex-fianceč left her at the altar to marry her blonde sister. * SatelliteLoveInterest: Ruth, the 6th grader Arnold initially was crushing on. He later loses interest after realizing she's this.* SheCleansUpNicely: Big Patty. And despite her insistence that she's not pretty, Helga ''can'' look beautiful when she tries to.* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend:** Harold twice in the episode "Hey Harold", first to Sid and Stinky then later to his overbearing parents.** Arnold says this about Lila in her first episode, which complicates things when he realizes he ''does'' like her.* ShipperOnDeck: Most people who knew about Helga's feelings for Arnold were supportive of a potential relationship, especially Phoebe and Grandpa Phil. Even Lila, her [[UnknownRival supposed arch-rival]], agreed to step aside for her since she actually has no romantic feelings for Arnold.* ShoutOut: Go [[ShoutOut/HeyArnold here]].* ShowWithinAShow: "Pop Daddy", a cop show that Arnold and Gerald are fans of, meanwhile Timberly (and supposedly Harold) is a fan of a Barney the Dinosaur expy named Wally.* SiblingYinYang: Helga is constantly ignored and would like some adoration from her parents, while her sister Olga gets all of the attention and would like to be left alone.* SickEpisode: Helga thinks she's sick with Monkeynucleousis and will die soon, but it turns out she's only being paranoid. She's also CompletelyMissingThePoint, as she read about the disease she thinks she has in a book called ''Diseases Long Since Debunked By Modern Science''.* SignsOfDisrepair: In "Dangerous Lumber", Arnold hits a home run ball that breaks a hole into a "Holywood Cow Farm" billboard leaving it reading "Holy cow".* SillyReasonForWar: In one episode Grampa takes Arnold and his friends to a reenactment of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War Pig War]], which in their version of history erupted into all-out war (we know it's not one of Phil's tall tales because of the other people at the reenactment).* SingleTargetSexuality: Helga only has eyes for Arnold. Though, she does flirt a bit with [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Ronnie Matthews]] when she finds out he's a self-centered prick.* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Guess who...* SkewedPriorities: In one episode Big Bob suffers a heart attack (actually only gas) and the last thing he says before passing out is that he won't catch ''Series/WheelOfFortune''.* TheSlacker: Oskar Kokoshka. He did, however, get a job as a paperboy, take care of his sister-in-law's baby son, and learn how to read.* {{Sleepwalking}}* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Heavily idealistic overall. Arnold tended to believe that most people were [[RousseauWasRight good at heart]] and could work out their differences with one another -- and, ultimately, the show tended to prove him right. The trade-off was that episodes with {{Downer Ending}}s and {{Karma Houdini}}s hit just that much harder, for being in apparent opposition to the prevailing ideology.* {{Snapback}}* SoBadItsGood: In-universe. Helga & Big Bob's reaction to ''[[{{Cats}} Rats]]: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Musical of Singing Rats]]''. TakeThat, indeed.* SocialServicesDoesNotExist:** Helga's mom is clearly alcoholic, her dad is about as abusive as you can get without being violent, and they're both often pretty neglectful of her. YMMV though - It's shown that they ''can'' take care of her, and Miriam was intended to go to Alcoholics Anonymous in The Patakis.** Arnold's in rather good hands; although his grandma is a CloudCuckooLander and his grandpa has...done some things to Arnold that is child endangerment or negligence, but it's PlayedForLaughs. In ''Biosquare'', when Helga starts to flood the greenhouse after breaking the sink, Grandpa mistakes their banging for help as a sign to ''turn the water flow up'' and make the greenhouse flood faster. In ''On the Lam'', Arnold is clearly tied up and Grandpa just assumes he's playing secret agent.** Played entirely straight with Stoop Kid, a kid who's living by himself with no adults, looks to be well into his teens and apparently hasn't been to school before in his life (After all, Stoop Kid never leaves his stoop) and almost everyone in the neighbourhood ''knows'' who he is and he regularly yells at people going past his house. Hasn't anybody thought of calling social services on him?* SorryILeftTheBGMOn: In "Olga Comes Home", before Helga admits to changing the grade on Olga's report card, she turns off the radio playing Mozart's Requiem which had played every time Olga was seen moping over her [[TheBGrade B+]].* SoYouWereSaying* SpinningPaper* SpiritualSuccessor: Sky Rat will be this(Craig Bartlett's second Nicktoon) when it premieres.* StalkerShrine: Famously, Helga had a shrine in her closet made out of Arnold's used chewing gum that was shaped like Arnold's head.* StalkerWithACrush: Helga toward Arnold and Brainy toward Helga.* StatusQuoIsGod: This ''is'' a Kid's show, after all, without much semblance of continuity or an overarching plotline. However, there are some implications of some mini-arcs, such as Arnold's relationship with Lila. The CharacterDevelopment is also an aversion.* SteamNeverDies: In "The Haunted Train", an old steam train is still used to commute steel mill workers to and from the city.* StepfordSmiler:** Good ''God'', Olga.** Surprisingly enough, Lila. WordOfGod says she has a deeply suppressed dark side. Not too surprising given her and her father's poverty combined with her [[ThePollyanna disproportionally positive outlook.]]* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: This is used a lot. For example, in "Downtown as Fruits", Arnold and Gerald say "Boy, people downtown sure are friendly." when they receive a bag full of cash. They later give the rest to a family stranded with a broken-down car, who then say the same thing.* StuffedIntoATrashcan:** ''Trash Can Day,'' as featured in the episode "Longest Monday".** Helga's knocking Stinky in a trashcan after his "sleeping in a closet" comment in "The Little Pink Book".* StupidStatementDanceMix: An actual in show example, played over one episode's credits. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcVW6Me7y0o Slippage. Slippage. Slippage.]]* SubwaysSuck: "Das Subway".* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Phoebe gives one in "Phoebe Breaks A Leg" when Arnold discovers she was faking a broken leg that pretty quickly turns into a MotiveRant partway through.--> '''Arnold:''' "This doesn't by any chance have anything to do with Helga, does it? Because of the way she treats you?"--> '''Phoebe:''' (increasingly frazzled) "That's completely ridiculous! Just because Helga's been waiting on me hand and foot ever since the bus accident - that was essentially her fault - doesn't mean that I'd falsely prolong my injury in some kind of passive aggressive attempt to reap the benefits of her guilty conscience and simultaneously give her a taste of her own bossy medicine!"* SuperstitionEpisode: In the episode "Friday the Thirteenth" it's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Friday the thirteenth]] and Arnold's and Gerald's families insist they carry around good luck charms and avoid unlucky things. Arnold and Gerald try to prove superstitions are false, but end up with bad luck. [[spoiler: Because Wolfgang gave it to them.]]* SurrogateSoliloquy: Helga will often whip out her heart-shaped Arnold locket to talk to when she is alone.* SurvivalMantra: On "Das Subway": Big. Open. Spaces. Big. Open. Spaces.[[/folder]]

[[folder:T]]* TatteredFlag: In the ChristmasEpisode, Mr. Hyunh is telling Arnold about how he gave up his only daughter during the VietnamWar. During a scene depicting (possibly) the Fall of Saigon, a tattered (American) flag is prominently displayed.* TeachersOutOfSchool: ** Protesting the shortage of supplies, the teachers went on strike. Because of the strike, the kids rejoiced that they could spend their days out of school, but found that the teachers all had found temporary jobs at all the places they liked to hang out such as the arcade, the bowling alley and the aquarium. The kids return to school to avoid the teachers, but are evicted by Principal Wartz and tells them every day the strike goes on, they cut days from summer vacation. Arnold vows to end the strike as soon as possible. ** The Thanksgiving special shows Mr. Simmons having his class put on a play of a very ideal Thanksgiving dinner, which Helga and Arnold lament that they won't have due to their dysfunctional families. They decide to abandon their families and visit Mr. Simmons for a chance at a normal Thanksgiving, only to discover that his family all hates each other.* TeamSpirit: "Benchwarmer".* TechnologyPorn: Arnold's room. ''Every'' kid in TheNineties wanted a bedroom like Arnold's.* TemptingFate: Notable examples include:** "The List", in which Arnold attempts to have the perfect day by doing everything on said list, which details the best things for a kid to do on a Saturday, only for everything to be derailed by something going wrong.** "Dangerous Lumber", where after several attempts at trying to cure his "dangerous lumber" (which is basically him hitting and hurting someone else with a baseball every time he hits it) by going to a batting cage at Ernie's insistence that "Nothing can go wrong, and no one can get hurt". When Arnold hits the ball, he shoots it straight back into the barrel of the pitching machine, causing it to malfunction and pelt everyone else in the batting cage with a barrage of baseballs before it eventually explodes. He promptly quits playing baseball right after that.* TerrifiedOfGerms: Sid, after watching a [[PublicServiceAnnouncement health class film]] about hygiene.** TruthInTelevision: There is an actual condition that with Sid's problem... obsessive-compulsive disorder.* ThatPoorCat: Occurs practically once per episode.* ThemeNaming: Helga and her sister have the same name: "Olga" is the Slavic version of the Germanic "Helga".* ThereAreNoTherapists: ''Massively'' {{averted}} in "Helga on the Couch."* TheGhost: Lampshaded with Mr. Smith. An episode was dedicated to Arnold and Gerald trying to track him down to deliver a package (apparently they had never seen him either). They were unsuccessful in their attempts.* TheShowMustGoOn: In "Downtown as Fruits", Helga stalls for time in her play because Arnold and Gerald aren't there when it's their turn to go on.* TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Eugene's birthday is, appropriately, Friday the 13th.* ThoseTwoGuys: Sid and Stinky.** Grandpa Phil and Oskar.** Ernie and Mr. Hyunh are also this sometimes.* ThrowTheDogABone: Arnold tries to invoke this with Eugene in "Eugene's Bike", but even that doesn't stop the poor kid from getting hit with a baseball, choking on a hot dog, and getting seasick. It sort of works in the end, though, since Eugene ''still'' thinks it was an awesome day simply because he got to do so many fun things. In "New Bully On The Block" Eugene himself of all people managed to score a touchdown.** In ''"Helga's Love Potion"'' Brainy, after countless OffhandBackhand from Helga, is kissed by her (in his forehead). He faints... of happiness!* TimeToMove* TitleDrop: Constantly in dialogue, which makes sense given that the title is a greeting. The most common drop, though, is that Arnold's alarm clock says "Hey Arnold" constantly by way of alarm.* TitleIn* TitleScream: This happens in the Title sequence two or three times, which also makes it a TitleThemeTune.* ToiletHumor:** Everyone is constantly passing gas in "Fishing Trip" because the only food they had is beans. Harold claims that it was funny at first but then it just smelled.** The entire plot of "Phoebe's Little Problem" revolves around Phoebe being the [[IncrediblyLamePun Butt]] [[ButtMonkey Monkey]] of the school after accidentally breaking wind into a microphone on stage.** Also present in the line "life was a gas but that gas has passed" in Dino Spumoni's depressing, pathetic attempt at a swan song "My Last Bow."* TokenGoodTeamMate: Edmund is this to the fifth graders, much to Wolfgang's chagrin.* TokenMinorityCouple: Some episodes had Gerald, Arnold's BlackBestFriend, paired with Phoebe, Helga's half-Japanese best friend. Then again, it could be said that it ''is'' a multiracial pairing so it could be something of a subversion. Given the rest of their classmates they were probably better off.* {{Tomboy}}: Helga, who [[OneOfTheBoys often hangs around the guys and scares most of them with her rough behavior]] and Big Patty, who [[YouGoGirl beats the toughest guys in arm-wrestling]].* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Helga's interaction with Phoebe. She can also this with Lila and her sister Olga on a few occasions.** Nadine and Rhonda.** There's also Patty and Rhonda in "Polishing Rhonda".* TonightSomeoneKisses: Helga and Arnold in the SchoolPlay.* TookALevelInJerkass: This happened to Phoebe when she became hall monitor. She got better though.** Sid and Stinky in later seasons.* ToxicFriendInfluence: In an odd form of this trope, Harold, Sid, and Stinky are all a lot nicer when they aren't hanging around with the other two.* ToyotaTripwire* TrademarkFavoriteFood:** Stinky often raves about his love for lemon pudding.** '''Chocolate Boy'''. [[MeaningfulName It's his freaking name]]! Though [[spoiler: his addiction switches from chocolate to radishes]].** Harold and his Mr. Fudgy Bars.** A more subtle example: Oskar can be seen eating pickles from the jar in several episodes that focus on him.* {{Trope2000}}: The synthesizer that Arnold wants to buy with the prize money in "Spelling Bee" is the [=ToneMaster=] 2000.* TrueCompanions: The Boarders, oddly enough.* {{Tsundere}}: Helga, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRQsO8LH2MQ&fmt=18 and how]]. Rhonda is also one for Harold.* TwoTimerDate: "Valentine's Day"[[/folder]]

[[folder:U]]* UglyGuysHotDaughter: Possibly Subverted. Helga and her father both have unibrows, potato noses, and billy goat shaped ears, and Helga is comically mistaken for a boy once. At the same time, the show has an exotic and unusual style of character design, and one need look no further than the Football Head Arnold himself for proof of this. Also, older mature Helga as seen in a few episodes is dropdead gorgeous. In contrast, Olga (Helga's older sister) is obviously perceived as pretty by others in the show.* UglyGuyHotWife: Oskar and his wife.** There's also Big Bob and Miriam to a lesser extent.* UnknownRival: At no point in any episode involving her does Lila ever learn about Helga's animosity for her or Arnold-related jealousy. Ironically, if she did know she would probably have no problem helping Helga--and during the school play and masquerade episodes, does help--since she doesn't have feelings for Arnold anyway, but Helga insists on being antagonistic instead. WordOfGod is that in "The Patakis" spin-off that never was, Helga finally would have gotten the hint and become friends with Lila. The fact that Arnold would be PutOnABus probably helped matters between them.* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: "Arnold Loves Lila". "Arnold Visits Arnie" is this crossed with BizarroUniverse where Arnold pines for "Hilda" while "Lulu" won't leave him alone.* TheUnreveal* UrbanFantasy: Some episodes fell into this, namely the ones dealing with urban legends like the demon train and ghost bride.[[/folder]]

[[folder:V]]* VanityIsFeminine: Played with when the girls throw a makeover party and deliberately exclude the tomboyish Helga. When Helga tries to play with the boys instead, they mock her for being ugly and unfeminine. Helga caves and dolls herself up, then joins the other girls at the party. After a while, she starts to realize how ridiculous the whole thing is, considering their age. "We're nine years old! We don't have signs of aging!" She persuades the other girls to her side... and they wind up administering the intended makeover to one of the unfortunate boys who tried to crash their party and found himself outmatched.* VerbalTic:** Monkeyman randomly says his name mid-sentence.** Coach Wittenburg and Tish have a tendency toward malapropism, and repeating themselves. Repetitively.* VinylShatters: Seen in the movie during the block party, when Suzie and Grandpa Phil are the DJs, Phil is annoyed with Suzie's vinyl-spinning techniques, and grabs the LP record she was playing and smashes it easily.* VitriolicBestBuds:** Helga and Phoebe, though by the end of the show this was shown to be Helga being carelessly demanding rather than actively, intentionally controlling.** A very strong Type 2 in Grandpa Phil and Jimmy Kafka, who are best described as best friends who simultaneously like and hate each other. This is mostly because both of them are prideful, competitive, and incredibly stubborn. As a result, they spent decades not speaking to one another, a fact which both of them are shown to severely regret in the episode where he appears.** Dino Spumoni and Don Reynolds in "Dino Checks Out" and "Partners". * VocalEvolution: Note, this only applies to characters who retained the same voice actors throughout the entire run of the show.** Helga's voice progressively becomes deeper, and also has a more mature tone to it, which actually works rather well for a character whose had to learn to look out for herself at such an early age.** Stinky's voice takes on more of an exaggeration of a stereotypical southern/hillbilly accent, with a more nasally quality as well. By the final season, his voice has dropped considerably.** Gerald's voice changing becomes a plot point; in reality, Jamil W. Smith's voice had broken, so an episode in which Gerald has his tonsils removed, thus bringing on a change in his voice, was written.** The [[LargeHam hammy]] factor in Harold's voice took a season or two to start shining through, and after that, it gets cranked up more and more, especially when [[FragileFlower he goes into his crybaby mode]].** Phoebe's voice was a bit lower in season 1. It's especially true in "Operation Ruthless".** It's barely noticeable, but Rhonda's voice got lower over time as well.** It wasn't just the kids that changed. Grandpa Phil's voice originally sounded forced and raspy before Creator/DanCastellaneta started using a higher version of his [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]] voice after a few episodes.[[/folder]]

[[folder:W]]* WalkIntoCameraObstruction:** "Wheezin Ed", this happens near the end. Where Harold is rolling and his butt fills up the screen before he runs over everyone.** "Helga's Makeover" again with Harold; as he and the other boys are about to go to crash Rhonda's party. * WardrobeWound: In the episode "Ms Perfect", the girls in Arnold's class play a prank on Lila that results in her getting covered in spinach and running out of the cafeteria in tears. * WealthyYachtOwner: When Rhonda's parents got married, Rhonda's Dad had three yachts but sold one to pay for the honeymoon.* WellDoneSonGuy: Helga and the Jolly-Olly Man both fall under this category so much.* WereStillRelevantDammit: In an {{in-universe}} example, Dino Spumoni's backstory shows us that he was trying way too hard to roll with the times, such as creating a rap album in the '80s. He fared better when he went back to singing his '50s tunes.* WeWantOurJerkBack:** In "Helga's Show," the comedic imitations Helga performs showcasing her friends' idiosyncrasies cause them to shun her. Taking Phoebe's advice, she tries a kinder approach to her humor, which falls flat. Ironically, it's Arnold who suggests that she go back to the edgier material she used before, which works.** "Big Bob's Crisis" has the head of the Pataki clan take a kinder, simpler, less-stressful approach to life after a gas attack scare (previously thought to be a heart attack). [[spoiler: When he begins to give up all of their modern conveniences (and she sees how others start to walk all over him), Helga tells him that she relies on him being the tough, take-charge man she knows he is.]] After some soul-searching, Bob decides that he can be that man and still take time away to unwind.* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:** Tucker, Coach Wittenberg and Trish's son, is never seen after his first appearance even though his parents show up several times afterwards.** Helga's pet Monitor Lizard only shows up in one episode. It is possible her parents made her get rid of it.** In the episode where Harold worked at Mr. Green's butcher shop; Mr. Green hires Harold as an apprentice at the end of the episode. Ever since we have never seen Harold working at the shop or it being mentioned. * [[WhatTheHellHero What The Hell Helga:]] Practically all the kids present in "Helga and the Nanny" called her out for framing Inga for theft.* WhoWouldBeStupidEnough to make counterfeit pennies?* WholePlotReference: The episode ''False Alarm'' is this to TwelveAngryMen.** "Das Subway" is taken almost beat-for-beat from ''Theater/TheOddCouple'' episode, "The Subway Show."* WideEyedIdealist: Eugene is very optimistic despite being a ridiculously unlucky jinx.* WiseBeyondTheirYears:** Arnold.** Helga counts, too, due to her impressive vocabulary.** Also, Phoebe for obvious reasons.** Gerald, for knowing so many of the town's legends.** Really, most of the kids qualify. You'll forget that they're supposed to be only nine.* WorkOffTheDebt* WorstNewsJudgmentEver: When Stoop Kid was revealed to be afraid to leave his stoop, the story dominated the front page of the newspaper. [[spoiler: His stepping off did, too.]]* TheWorstSeatInTheHouse: Arnold and Gerald once wanted to go to a baseball game to see Arnold's favorite player play his last game before retiring. They decide to buy two tickets from a scalper promising them great seats for half the price of what they're selling at the ticket booth. It turns out that their seats are both in the nosebleed section ''and'' obstructed by a pole. Arnold decides to get closer to the action and ends up catching the home run ball from his favorite player at his final at-bat while simultaneously being chased by ushers.* WritersCannotDoMath:** Grandpa once said his grandfather lived 1830-1921. He also said his grandfather participated in the tomato incident which took place in the 1770s-1780s (making him about 150 years older than Phil at least!) and in another episode we see a flashback of Phil's childhood in the mid-late 1920s where his grandfather is shown to be alive and well and only looking about as old as Phil does now.** The writers seem to flip-flop between having Harold a few years older, or the same age as Arnold and his friends.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Y]]* YiddishAsASecondLanguage: In "Deconstructing Arnold" Harold calls Arnold a "Kibitzer": Yiddish for a non-participant person, offering (often unwanted) advice or commentary. Or as he defines it: a "big fat buttinski!"** "Yutz" a Yiddish insult meaning "idiot" is also used occasionally by a few characters. Mostly by Helga.* [LogicalFallacies You Fail Logic Forever]]: [[DrillSergeantNasty Lieutenant Major]] [[SadistTeacher Goose]] gives us this gem: "YOUR HAIR'S NOT CURLY! WHAT IS YOUR ''REAL'' NAME?" Granted, [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight he was]] ''[[TheCuckoolanderWasRight right]]'' about it not being Curly's real name (his real name's Thaddeus), but that doesn't make it any less ridiculous. [[RuleOfFunny Just a lot funnier.]]* YouHave48Hours: the episode "24 Hours to Live". After Arnold accidentally hits Harold in the face with a baseball, Helga persuades Harold to wait until the next day to fight him. And just to really rub it in, Helga spends most of that day counting down exactly how many hours, minutes, and seconds Arnold has to live with a bullhorn.* YouLookFamiliar: When the original voice of Arnold, Toran Caudell, started getting older, they switched him to the voice of Wolfgang while Phillip Van Dyke took over the voice of Arnold. Later on, Spencer Klein would replace Phillip. This all ended up being subtly referenced in the episode "New Bully on the Block", where Wolfgang, Ludwig (voiced by Phillip). and Arnold get in a war over who should own the vacant lot.* YouWannaGetSued: Subverted in "False Alarm". Helga talks about going to ''Wrestling/{{Wrestlemania}}'' to see Wrestling/HaystacksCalhoun and there isn't even a single wink or nudge at the camera.** CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: Haystacks Calhoun never competed at a ''[=WrestleMania=]''. He also passed away in 1989.* YouTalkinToMe: When Arnold becomes drunk on kung fu power.* YourMakeupIsRunning: Happens every time Olga cries.* YourCheatingHeart: In "Arnold Visits Arnie", Lulu (Lila's darker counterpart in Arnold's subconscious) flirts with Arnold and harasses him despite being rejected by him several times since she's Arnie's girlfriend.* YourTelevisionHatesYou: In "Arnold's Hat," Arnold is depressed because he lost his hat. To take his mind off how he feels, he turns on the TV only to discover that it's Hat Day at the local ballpark and everyone is wearing one. It doesn't help.* YourTomcatIsPregnant: In the subway episode, it turns out that "Killer", a seeing eye dog, was pregnant and has puppies in the stalled subway car.* YouthfulFreckles: Eugene and Lila.[[/folder]]